With the latest episode of “Game of Thrones,” you’ll know that could apply to all manner of things in this episode, but before we get to that we’ll just say thing: Like we said last week, there are spoilers ahead, so don’t read on if you haven’t watched.

1) 2 Much 2 Fast: As the show tries to wrap up an incredible number of storylines, character arcs and, you know, this whole epic saga, there will be certain parts of the tale that get more attention, others less. This episode went light on dialogue between some fairly major characters in favor of seemingly endless destruction that was, of course, awful and completely senseless. Violence rained down upon extras and digitally composed characters, mostly innocent noncombatants, as King’s Landing burned in a needlessly long and horrific sequence that also burned up opportunities to deal with anything else. This left rushed conversations between characters that at times were hard to fathom, such as weird banalities like Qyburn telling Cersei it wasn’t safe where she was standing as pretty much everywhere else was on fire, or any of the too-brief discussions between Jon and Dany or Tyrion and Jaime or Jaime and Cersei and…you get the point.

2) 2 Twosomes 2 Many: Instead of making space for characters we’d like to see, or to get a little more buildup to some of the big events of the night, the episode spent precious time on two big punch-ups between 1) Jamie and Euron and 2) the Clegane siblings, the Hound against his brother The Mountain. That was one dude duel too many, because the only score-settling scrape we cared about was between the Cleganes, which has been teased for a long time and therefore was more satisfying, if super-violent and overblown. The other? Two guys fighting over Cersei — including one who just swam in from his destroyed fleet — was mind-bogglingly unnecessary when there was so much else that didn’t get enough screen time. Euron isn’t that important.

3)King’s Landing: We don’t enjoy excessive destruction, and this episode definitely had that. The show was, we imagine, making a point about the savagery of war, but this felt like the budget was getting burned along with King’s Landing and its populace (and, to a degree, the viewers). What are we supposed to make of Dany’s decision to act as she did ? Did the bells set her off? Were the green flashes exploding wildfire that Cersei had planned to use? Is Dany officially Team Mad Targaryen? We know it makes it more likely that Dany won’t survive through the final episode and she’s burnt up the goodwill we’ve come to feel for her over 8 seasons. It all felt rushed; that fiery turn could have used more finesse. Oh, and Grey Worm? He and Missandei deserved better.

4) Arya Kidding Me? We were shown there is the possibility for redemption for the Stark who became a deadly assassin, but it was deeply unsatisfying how it played out. Mere steps from crossing Cersei’s name off the list, Arya is told by the Hound that her avenging endgame should stop and she should get out. While their little talk is not convincing, Arya is convinced. The much-desired moment between Arya and Cersei doesn’t come, and instead we see the deadliest Stark running through a series of falling building and firestorms that seemed to echo recent real-life disasters while also reducing this able, tough and smart female character to one more running extra. She deserved better than watching the narrative fall apart all around her.

5) Everyone Else: Characters were either absent and missed like Sansa, Brienne and Sam or there were on hand with not enough to do. Whether it was Jon set to maximum brood or Tyrion once again failing Dany and believing in the most outrageous outcomes that are most unlikely to happen, this episode didn’t feel like the penultimate wapping up of a beloved series but more like a mid-run episode that emphasized spectacle over character, when it’s the latter that has made this show so great.

So overall, not our favorite episode of this incredible series, but we still hold out hope for a truly satisfying finale (and, maybe, just maybe, a fuller story in George R.R. Martin’s eventual final books of the series).

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